photo credit: pierre lascott

This is my final review that I do of this challenge in the form of a post.

After this one, I’ll move it into the forum, where I’ll be posting my goals with regards to this for the coming week, and eventually the review on Friday as well. 

Putting this onto the forum is another of my 30-day experiments, however if anyone would like to join me there, I’ll keep it going as long as there is an interest.

If it’s just me, it goes after 30 days.

The purpose of moving it into the forum, is to continue accountability in the process, while freeing up my Friday spot to post about other things.

In case anyone would like to join me in this, here is a brief description of what we will be doing, and why.

How To Use The Accountability Partners Section Of The Forum 

Accountability partners are people who check in on one another, monitoring and encouraging their progress in whatever goals they may have.

They report on what they intend to do, perhaps define a timeline, set a course for themselves, record their progress, what tools and support they used to get as far as they have come, and what they intend to use to get themselves further along on their goals. Best of all, they help other people to do the same.

They may be looking to move their lives forward in matters concerning health, career, education, relationships, financial management–whatever area of their life they seek to improve, that is what the accountability partners report on.

If you would like to use the forum here for this purpose, please do so.

It has been proven that in areas of self/life improvement, being accountable to someone is a great incentive to keep you goiing. Just knowing someone is there, checking up on you, encouraging you, and perhaps even going through the process right along with you, can do wonders.

If you would like to go along in the process with me, I would be honored to help you, while you help, encourage, motivate, and be a great inspiration to others as well as to me.

That is what the forum is there to do.

Other Stuff Coming Up 

Recently, I gave some thought to what I would like to do in the next three years.

I sat down, pen in hand, daughter off to school, husband at work, and son having a nap, and jotted ideas down as they came.

I noted what I would like to learn, do, how I could improve my life, little tweaks and big goals. All of it got made note of.

This is the list which I will share here with you.

They are in no particular order, although many are thirty day challenges for me to do.

I will begin some this week, when my husband is off on a fishing trip. This will allow me to get a good head start on some of it.

Note: if you have goals and changes of your own for your life in the next 3-5 years, why not share? Comments, ideas, and encouragement are always most welcome! 

Without Further Ado, The List!

This list is for the next three years, and I’ll add to it as I come up with more stuff. Of course, I’ll publish about them here.

1. Help install new flooring in downstairs bathroom.

2. Paint basement walls.

3. Go to the gym 3 times per week, for thirty days.

4. Participate in National Novel Writing Month

5. Maintain a weight of no greater than 127 pounds for three months.

6. Help build our cottage.

7. Help build our garage (beside cottage).

8. Build up an emergency fund of $5000

9. Do not use an automobile for thirty days.

10. Eat no meat for thirty days.

11. Drink only water for thirty days. No juice or alcohol. (Does coffee count as water? Guess not…)

12. Work on current novel project three times per week for thirty days.

13. Read through 15 self development/life improvement books in three years.

14. Get my weight down to 127 pounds.

15. Complete writing a novel.

16. Eat a healthy breakfast every day for thirty days.

17. “Stuff Reduction Program” for thirty days. (Currently working on.)

18. Travel to some other country.

19. Get Little Man off bottles.(Working on.)

20. Get Little Man potty trained.

21. Work on Little Man’s vocabulary (thinking flashcards and lots of books!).

22. Eat nothing with sugar listed in the first four ingredients for thirty days.

23. Get Little Man sleeping always in his Big Boy bed! (Actually, when I made the list, we had just finished making his bed for him. Since making the list, that is where he has been sleeping. Just gotta get the crib out of his room to remove temptation!)

24. Take old wallpaper off walls in Little Man’s room.

25. Redecorate Little Man’s room with cars, etc!

26. Organize my office.

27. Decorate my office (even though I generally work on my laptop in the kitchen!).

28. Toddler proof the basement door.

29. Adopt a dog that fits well with my family (good with kids, etc).

 30. Learn how to paint pictures.

31. Take a beginner’s guide to digital photography course.

32. Get useable and suitable office furniture.

33. Take 1 trip per week to Goodwill, with at least one bag full of stuff, for thirty days.

34. Do a good deed for someone every day for thirty days.

35. Walk for a minimum of 30 minutes daily, for thirty days. On bad weather days, use the treadmill.

36. Eat a salad every day for thirty days.

37. Try a new recipe once a week, for thirty days.

38. Take a photograph every day for thirty days. Publish my favorites here.

39. In the next three years, do a total of ten guest posts on sites other than my own.

40. Write five pages of something, daily, for thirty days.

41. Over the course of the next 3 years, I want to become a professional, full time writer (including with the stuff on this site!)

Review of Spring Body tuneUp–Week 4

Average calories per day: 1807

Total Calories of Junkfood For the Week: (why is this one never zero?):3421

Aerobic Exercise (days): Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Resistance Training (days): Friday, Monday, Thursday

Steps Per Day (average): 9471

Best Time Spent With Family: I took the kids yard saling on Saturday, and we had a terrific time going through more stuff to eventually add to my stuff Reduction Program! Fun. Cheap. gives me more stuff to do later. Who could ask for more?

Best Time Spent Alone: When I sat down and made the list, above. It was great! You should definitely do this.

Biggest Goal Achieved This Week: Got my series, the Achievers, up and running. check out the first post here

The Five Most Influential Forks On My Road To Happiness/

Be sure to check in next Wednesday, for Part two of the series, when Lacy Boggs, of The Me Makeover and The Spiral Notebook answers the question: What was it that made the most difference, what had the most positive impact, in your life?

Big Goal Set For Next Week: I will get the Accountability Partners section of my forum up and running, and post both my goals for this Spring body Tuneup there (today), as well as progress/pitfalls, etc, with the second report being on Friday of next week.

Total $ Saved Toward Shameless Bribe For Weight Loss: $53.62

That’s it for this week’s review! Hope to see you in the forum!

Got a comment, story, tip or idea related to this post? Why not share? Comments are always most welcome!

photo credit: mrigneous

Do you ever think about the stuff in your life?

You know, the clothes you don’t wear, the knickknacks collecting dust on the shelves, perhaps old toys you have had since childhood, but are reluctant to give away?

Each of us, during the course of our lifetimes, amasses a great collection of stuff.

Recently, a post at Think Simple Now inspired me to take a good, long look at all the stuff I have collected over the years, and to think–do I need or want it?

Do I know of anyone or any organization who may actually be able to put to good use any of this “stuff” which I am not using?

What I have decided to do, is to create another thirty day challenge for myself!

Over the course of the next thirty days, I will set out to organize, get rid of, maximize the usefulness of, and toss out as much of my stuff as I possibly can do so with.

I hope no one minds if I refer to my project as they did on Think Simple Now–it is my “Stuff Reduction Program”, and I am basing it largely on the advice in that article.

The categories of things for me to sort through are:

Clothing

I have so many clothes, yet there are many I have never worn.

I have an entire wardrobe intended for a person working in an office, or some other professional workspace, including shoes I am not even sure I could walk in anymore.

I’ll have to sort through my clothes, putting them into piles according to whether I will keep them, throw them into the garbage, give them to charity, or give them to a friend who actually does live the life of an office worker, and would therefore truly appreciate having them.

Videos

We have a large bookcase whose shelves are lined with videos we have not watched in literally years.

Why do we hang onto these forgotten treasures?

Because someday, we may want to watch them.

We haven’t wanted to for at least ten years, but someday…

Out they go!

Books

I love books.

Often, when searching through yard sales, I have been fortunate enough to find them for mere pennies apiece.

Again, I keep them because someday, I may want to read them.

The fact that I have very little time to devote to this treasured practice does not occur to me at the time that I buy them.

They look like they may be a good read, and, in spite of the fact that I already have a bookshelf filled with unread novels at home, I buy them.

For pennies a piece, how can that be wrong?

Well, they need to be sorted at the very least.

Some are from arthors I truly enjoy reading, such as Lisa Gardner (my favorite novelist).

Some are from writers I have never heard of before purchasing the book.

all of them could be borrowed from the library, if I really wanted to read them.

I’ll sort through these as well, although none of them is in poor enough repair to require a “garbage” pile. It’ll be keep (Lisa Gardner), charity, give to friends.

Magazines

Happily, I have cancelled all of my magazine subscriptions some time ago, so this is not such a huge pile of Stuff.

However, I still habe several older artist magazines and some writing magazines.

All are still in good shape.

I won’t ever read them again.

I’ll just put these into a box to be given to charity along with the rest of this stuff.

Stuff In My Office 

I used to jokingly tell my husband that I wasn’t sure what was living in my desk drawers, but I’ve fed it twice.

The thing is, there is so much stuff parked in there, plus the mess within my filing cabinet, that this could well be true.

Definitely part of this challenge will have to include de-cluttering what’s there, and optimizing the usefulness of the stuff I keep.

I have pens, pencils, art supplies, notebooks, loose leaf binders, pins, etc.

Most of the stuff in my desk drawers will be useful eventually. I just need to stop buying more of it until after what I already have in there has been used.

My Bedroom 

I have lots of stuff in my bedroom

Lonely socks waiting for their perfect match to find their way home from the dryer, office supplies in drawers intended for other things, books I have read halfway through, CDs, DVDs, blank computer disks.

Plus the previously mentioned clothes.

So my bedroom will be the first room I tackle with this project.

That, and the bedroom closet.

The closet has enough stuff in it to be the scene of a horror novel. What’s in that dark, danp space, anyway?

Think Simple Now ruggests allowing no more than 3 hours for sorting through each category.

I will devote 1 hour per day to this project, two or three days per week (depending on the rest of my schedule).

If possible, I’ll finish half in the first thirty day challenge, but I’m thinking there may be a second challenge lurking in among all of that stuff!

What stuff do you have that you need to sort through? Any tips, ideas, or stories about dealing with stuff of your own? If so, why not share? comments and suggestions are always most welcome!

photo credit: seeks2dream

My thanks this morning go to Maria Gajewski, of Never The Same River Twice,  who has published my first-ever guest post on her site today! Check out Positively Wonderful!

Also check back here on Wednesday, when Maria’s post appears as the opening article of my first ever guest post series, “The Achievers”!

photo credit: Spatial Mongrel

I am delighted and honored to be hosting a series of guest post on this site for the first time.

Starting May 14, this Wednesday, watch for guest posts from around the web, including posts from

Maria Gajewski of Never the Same River Twice

Lacy Boggs of The Me Makeover and
The Spiral Notebook

Lodewijk van Den Broek of How To Be An Original

Lexi Sundell of Energies of Creation and
Lexi Sundell Paintings

Aaron Potts of Today Is that Day and
Fitness Destinations

Shauna Arthurs of Follow Your Path and
Women and Money

Suzie Cheel of Abundance Highway and
Zen Law of Attraction

I asked each of these wonderful writers what it is that has made the biggest difference in their life, whether it be in personal areas, such as in relationships, in career areas, or elsewhere. What was it, that has had the most positive impact on their lives?
Their answers are as varied and amazing as the writers themselves.
Watch for it Wednesdays, starting May 14.

photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik

This will mark the end of my third week on this Spring Body Tuneup!

One more week, and I’ll be moving on to other things, but I’ll still continue working on improving my physical fitness level. I have a method in mind, and of course I’m sharing it with you.

Exciting Idea For The Forum!

After this TuneUp, I’ll be using my forum, reporting in there on how much, what type of exercise, calories if I feel it’s necessary to report on that, etc.

It is a well-known fact that if we are looking for change in any aspect of our lives, keeping ourselves accountable for what we promise we are going to do is an enormous help.

Therefore, my readers will become my partners for accountability!

And I can do the same for you.

Anyone else who would like to join me there is welcome to do so, in fact, that is what I am hoping will happen. Maybe we can get a bunch of folks who are looking to improve their fitness level reporting on their goals, progress, setbacks, etc. We could be accountable to each other.

By moving this into the forum, I can allow others to share their own weight loss/fitness quest journey.

Even if no one adds anything in there other than myself (I hope they will, however), I will continue reporting during the thirty days following the completion of this Spring Body TuneUp.

Now, on with the review… 

This week’s review is shorter than that of other weeks.

I’ve had some setbacks, plus I have been incredibly busy with life and the website, and the kids, and the property up north, and…well, I’m sure you get the idea.

Next week, I’ll provide a better review, but for this week, this is going to be it!

So, here goes…

First off, most of my averages are worked out from Monday on, as one of my kids was ill from Thursday afternoon of last week, through Sunday. My kids take presidence, of course, and because I was home, the only workout I did was my resistance training during those days.

This also affected the number of steps I recorded. During the weekend, I averaged just around 2000 steps per day, which is way down from the almost 10000 steps I did the rest of the weekdays. All in all, my average step count including those sick days was just 6441. However, not including those days, just Monday through Thursday, was 9820 steps per day.

My resistance workout was very much as it was last week, except that I doubled the number of reps I was doing, added a plank which I hold for sixty seconds, and changed my crunches by placing my feet on a bed, so that they are above me, and doing the crunches from that position.

I did the resistance work on Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Remember, I am neither an exercise professional, nor a nutritionist. Check with your doctor before trying any regime of physical fitness or changes to your diet.

As well, I did not get my bike or my son’s bike trailer out. It’s been a cold and damp week all around, so we bundled up in the mornings and walked after dropping my daughter off at school.

Most mornings now I do between 45 minutes and one hour of fast walking.

I did my cardio training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, again, just in the form of brisk walking. 

During the days when I was home because of my daughter’s illness, I paid absolutely no attention to my diet, although I tend to choose fairly healthy food anyway. Usually just too much of it!

Because of all of these factors, I did not actually lose any weight this week. But I didn’t gain any, either, so (dare I say it?) all is not lost!

Most Enjoyable Time Spent With My Family was definitely when my daughter began to get some of her color back, a bit of her energy, and the day she actually smiled again! You don’t know how much you miss those simple things, until they are taken away.

My most enjoyable Time Spent Alone was when I actually sat down and planned out a great deal of the posts for this site for the next eight weeks. I have never had such a plan before, and I’m trying it to see how I like it. So far, I love it! It’s so good to know what you have coming up, when, and of course to have the flexibility in life to be able to change it as circumstances dictate.

My Biggest Goal Achieved This Week was getting my first guest post ready for another site (it will be out Monday on Never The Same River Twice, which, incidentally, is one of the sites which will be featured here, guest posting May 14 in my “The Achievers” series).

Another huge goal was gathering up the posts and sorting and organizing them for the series, plus pencilling in all the names of the writers contributing.

Big Goal Set For Next Week: By Monday, I want to have The Achievers completely set and ready to go, all the posts waiting for publication, all the writers informed of their scheduled post dates, all the photos picked out for the series.

It promises to be great!

A Final Note About the Forum:

If anyone would like to jump in on the forum before me, please feel free to start things up!

Hopefully, I’ll see you there.

That’s it, until next week’s update.

On a similar path of self/life improvement? Have tips or techniques you’d like others to know about? Why not share? Comments are always most welcome!

photo credit: theogeo

What are your biggest time wasters?

E-mail

If you are anything like me, you probably spend lots of time several times each day checking emails, reading emails, responding to emails, and deleting emails. I know, it’s always, “It’ll just take a second!”, but before you know it, that second has turned into half an hour has turned into one hour has turned into several hours. Perhaps not at one stretch, but if you were to add up all the time you spend on your emails, I bet you’d be surprised by just how much time gets swallowed by them.

One possible solution to this: set a certain time of the day for checking emails, responding to emails, reading emails: all of the stuff mentioned above.

Also, send emails out to your friends, asking that those chain-letter emails never find their way to your inbox. They’re annoying at best, and serve no known purpose in the universe.

So get rid of them before they reach you.

Also, let it be known that you will get to your emails at a certain time, and if possible, on a certain day.

You can set up an autoresponder advising emailers that you are unavailable at the moment, but will get to their emails when you get the chance. If it is important, they should have an alternate way to reach you, such as via telephone, or pager.

But only if it is important.

Another huge time waster with emails is having several email accounts.

It’s ok to have them, but have the emails sent from each of them to one account, such as your Gmail account, which can also allow you to label and archive them, which is a feature of Gmail I like.

Channel Surfing

It is possible to waste an entire evening attempting to find something good enough that you actually would want to watch it, on television.

I know this, because in the bad old days when I actually did watch T.V., that is often what I did.

Why not record shows that you like, and watch them when you have the time?

Or buy a series of your favorite program on DVD, and do the same?

At the very least, get a Television guide, and learn when the programs worth watching to you are on.

You can save yourself literally hours of time potentially wasted.

Or do what I did, and simply stop watching television.

The only times I watch it now, are when I am watching Monster Trucks with my two year old son, because he absolutely loves them, and I wouldn’t want to miss the expression on his face when one leaps into the air and the covering flies off the body, or the wheels break off and they keep right on driving. Yah, that is worth watching!

News Programs

Some people absolutely love to watch news on television, listen to it on the radio, and read endless streams of it on the Internet. It that’s you, then skip this part.

If that is not you, and you still want to keep up to date on newsworthy subjects which interest you, you can subscribe to Alerts, such as Google Alerts, so you will not miss a thing you are interested in knowing.

I found when I used to pay attention to the news every day that it would depress me, bringing me down in energy and enthusiasm. so I stopped watching and listening.

My husband is happy to go over every sordid detail he learns about, making Alerts unnecessary for me.

Perhaps a family member or a friend can keep you updated (if they’re like my husband that’ll be whether you want them to or not!).

Social Sites, such as Facebook

I love Facebook, but I find I spend more time on there than I do on this site, so I have to cut back.

With friends contacting me there, Scrabulous games to play, new applications to add–well, let’s just say it is time to cut down.

I have decided that only once per day, at the very most (I’m shooting for once every other day eventually!) will I be going on Facebook.

I’ve just got too many other things to do!

What are your biggest time wasters, and how do you cut back on them? Why not share? Comments, tips, and stories are always most welcome!

photo credit: sillydog

This is a brief overview of five ways to whiten your teeth.

Always check with a qualified dental professional before attempting to whiten your teeth.

Some people report sensitivity in their gums after whitening procedures.

1) Laser treatment

This is a treatment where they coat your teeth with a whitening gel, then apply a special laser light to it.

The process lasts about 1-1 1/2 hours, and you need only do it once.

However, it may cost anywhere from $400 to upwards of several thousand dollars, so it is the most expensive.

2) At Home Gel From The Dentist

My husband did this, and he got some good results.

You get the same gel as is used in #1 above, to do a treatment yourself at home.

First, a mold is made of your teeth, which you later get to take home, fill with the gel, place in your mouth for a specified amount of time, then remove.

At a cost of about $120, it’s cheaper than the first method, gives you good results, but is more time consuming.

It may cause you to produce a lot of saliva while doing the treatment, which will cause you to drool.

3) Whitening Strips

I have tried these, and my teeth are fairly white.

You buy a package of strips which are individually wrapped. Each strip is coated with whitening gel on one side. There are strips for both bottom and top teeth.

Simply peel off the protective cover from the side with the gel on it, apply to your teeth, carry on with whatever you would normally be doing for about a half hour, and within 7-14 days, you should have whiter teeth.

Even though this is a product which is available over the counter, and is a treatment which you do yourself, check with your dentist before undergoing the treatment.

When I did these, I would do a 1/2 hour cardio workout while waiting.

4) Whitening Rinses

I use a whitening pre rinse on my teeth.

You use it before brushing.

It’s like a mouthwash, swish it around in your mouth, coating the teeth.

Spit.

Then brush your teeth, rinse thoroughly, and you’re good to go.

5) Whitening Toothpastes

These are great for helping to ward off coffee or tea stains.

Be certain you get one with fluoride.

Of course, you can always use good old fashioned baking soda for a whitening affect. Or go for a toothpaste which contains it.

photo credit: Hans Vink

This will be my second weekly review of my Spring Body TuneUp, but first, I thought I would share some more general information. This week, let’s take a look at eating, which is one half of the weight gain or weight loss scenario.

Calories:

A calorie is a unit of energy produced by food. You need calories, burning them to carry out your daily tasks. Even just sitting there reading, you are burning a certain amount of calories.

Once you have burned off 3500 calories, you have burned off the equivalent of one pound. Of course, if you do this and take in 3500 calories, you will not lose any weight.

The thing is, upping the amount of calories you burn, while subtly lowering the calories you take in.

Types of calories matter. Certain sources of calories are worse than others, and I’ll be taking a brief look at those here.

Do you know where your calories come from?

There are two evil villians in the weight loss war, each easily metabolized, each producing empty calories.

First of all, there are the much-talked-about fat calories, weighing in at 9 calories per gram. Your body metabolizes fat calories very easily, using next-to zero calories to do so. Because of this, as small an amount of calories as possible should come from fats, and those you do consume should be from the so-called “good” fats, such as fish oil or olive oil.

Fish oil, in fact, is healthy for your heart and for your brain.

Alcohol is the second of the two most fattening forms of calories there is. It contains 7 calories per gram, and is metabolized by the body as easily as fat is. It also lowers your resistance to certain high calorie foods. Alcohol has absolutely no nutritional value. For these reasons and due to the fact that it often leads to binge eating and other regrets the day after, avoid alcohol while dieting.

A Bit About Nutrients

Cholesterol:

The very word prompts pictures of heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease, all of which it can contribute to if there is an excess of it in your blood. It is natural for the body to have a certain amount of cholesterol; our liver produces it. It is also found in egg yolks (remove them when cooking, or buy egg whites and skip the temptation), as well as in certain meats.

Fiber:

Fiber helps bulk up food, making you feel fuller faster. It is a dieter’s friend. However, if you are increasing your fiber intake, do so gradually so that your body has a chance to adjust to it. You may notice you are more gassy than usual when you are increasing your fiber intake. This is normal, and as you adjust to the new levels, it will tend to–dare I say it?–blow off.

Fiber also helps to control your blood sugar.

You find fiber in whole grains, which is what the bread and pastas you eat should be made of. It is also found in fruits such as apples, and in certain vegetables.

Sodium:

Sodium is a naturally occuring mineral.

We get plenty of it from a normal, healthy diet.

Calcium:

Calcium is found in large quantities in milk, and in milk products.

Coupled with weight  bearing exercise such as walking, it can help prevent osteoporosis, which is a bone thinning disease. Thin bones are weak bones, and once you have osteoporosis,simply lifting or twisting may cause them to break.

Along with calcium and weight bearing exercise, you need to ensure you are getting enough vitamn D, which will help your body to absorb that calcium.

As well, limit your intake of caffiene and alcohol, which have been shown to interfere with calcium absorption.

You may wish to take a calcium supplement, and if you are 50 or better, a vitamin D supplement as well.

Water:

Water is what much of your body is made up of. It carries nutrients to your cells, is calorie free, and helps you to feel full, faster.

Drink 8 8-ounce cups of water each day for optimum health.

Types of Exercise:

Note: always, ALWAYS, get your doctor’s approval before you embark on any health-improvement regimen. This includes changes to your diet and/or exercise.  You may have some underlying health concern which could actually make undertaking such a routine dangerous to you, or the regimen which works for one person, may not be the best for you. Share your plans for change with your doctor, discuss it in detail while she/he gives you your physical.

Now, about the exercise I have been doing…

Cardio:

Up until now, my primary aerobic/cardio exercise has been walking. This fits nicely into my life, because I can do it while pushing my son in a stroller, while my daughter is riding her bike beside us, etc. It is something which is easy to do, requires no equipment other than my shoes (and my son’s stroller!), and does not require a huge amount of inconvenience to anyone involved. It fits my life perfectly.

However, I do like to mix things up a bit, so this weekend I’ll be getting my bike and my son’s bike trailer ready, so that next week we can enjoy a couple bike rides if the weather remains cooperative.

As well, I have been known to dance around my house as I clean it. I figure, I’ve got to clean it anyway, so why not add music and more movement, so that not only the does the house benefit by being scrubbed, but my body benefits by zapping some calories as well?

Weight/Resistance Work: 

I do not have a huge weight workout routine. Even the term “weight workout” may be misleading. Only for the bicep curls do I use any weights at all, other than the weight of my own body. Perhaps I should be referring to this as my resistance training routine, instead!

What I do:

I actually do vertical leaps, bounding like a bunny as high as I can for as many reps as I feel like doing (but I do have a minimum number, because some days I feel like doing exactly zero, and that is not enough!).

Then I do sideways leaps, placing some object on the floor and jumping sideways over it. Again, I have a minimum in mind, and I go from there.

(Note: do not push yourself if your doctor gives you the ok to do these and you want to try. Many people overdo the initial phase of a workout system, then burn out and quit, believing they have failed. You cannot go from doing next to nothing to doing thirty reps of each exercise in one day, then repeating it every day for a month. As well, your body needs days in between to recover. That is when it is building muscle tissue. The recovery days. I walk on my recovery days, but that is my personal choice.)

Then I do pushups, the bent-knee kind for now, but later, after I’ve developed more upper body strength, I’ll progress to “real” pushups.

Bicep curls, using just five pound weights.

Followed by crunches, then side crunches, to really work those abs (I’m thinking of adding ab work on the days  I’m not doing this routine as well.)

Bench dips, which are great for the triceps.

Leg raises.

Lunges.

Walking lunges (these look wierd, but hey, no one can see me, and I can feel them work!).

Then I do some stretching, and I’m done. It doesn’t take very long, and it feels like it’s working.

Time to Review Week Two Of My Spring Body TuneUp!

Average Calories Per day: 1709

Total Calories of Junkfood for The Week: 2650  Average Per Day: 379

Aerobic Exercise (Days): Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Weight Workout (Days):Saturday, Monday, Wednesday

Steps Per Day (Average): 9982

Best Time Spent With Family: Last weekend, my husband and daughter went up north on Friday, while my son and I stayed home. We did this because he had a cold, and the weather had turned chilly, so I wanted to make sure he remained as healthy as he could to ward off that cold. We had a wonderful time together, he going with me on my walks (we have a beautiful lakeshore where I live, and that is where I like to go walking. There is also a nice playground there, so he didn’t mind the walks, either!).

My daughter and my husband had a great time up north, and my son and I had a great time staying home for a change.

Best Time Spent Alone: Again, working on my site is what I mainly do when I have some time to myself. I’m up a few hours before the kids are, and I’m back on the computer while my son is napping. Also, this past weekend, I managed to get in some reading, which I love (it was a Dean Koontz novel, The Good Guy, in case you are wondering.)

Biggest Goal Achieved this Week: I lost one pound, which doesn’t sound like much,, but it brings my total to four pounds down, which is fantastic.

Big Goal Set For Next Week: I’ve been invited to do a guest post on another site. I have to have it in by Wednesday. That is my big goal for next week.

Total $ Saved Towards Shameless Bribe For Weight Loss: $32.73

That’s it for my review of my Spring Body tuneUp for this week!

Have a helpful comment or suggestion? Got a story of an amazing makeover/physical change? why not share? Comments are always most welcome!

photo credit: MGShelton

Ah, April!

The snow melted, Robins began to populate our area–I even had a Cardinal come up onto our front porch and peer at the window, as though he could see me.

April was a wonderful month, all around, including for this website.

April saw me upgrade to the latest edition of WordPress, in spite of misgivings brought on by mixed reviews.

All in all, however, I find it’s great.

I can still do all the things with it that I was able to do before, plus I can instantly upgrade plugins, with the click of a mouse. Who could ask for better!

April is also the month I found a PlugIn (PhotoDropper) which allowed me to easily scan through images on Flickr and upload the ones I like onto my website. Again, who could ask for better? Also, it is worth mentioning, that if I had not upgraded the version of WordPress which I was using, I never would have found this PlugIn. It was on the list of plugins on the dashboard of the new WordPress.

Excellent, useful, and time saving.

April’s Top Posts

April’s top posts were:

Ten Ways You Can Improve The World Today
Gratitude Journal (a favorite every month. Second this month, for the first time. Usually it is first!)
Law of Attraction, or Law of Action?

Taking Personal Development to the Next Level
The Happiness File

As well, this site was on StumbleUpon several times this month, as well as on DIGG for the first time ever!

All in all, a great month.

What’s Up For May?

May has a development I’m really excited about!

I asked some blogging friends if they would do guest posts for a series I am working on, and the answer was a resounding yes!

The question I put to them to answer in their posts: what has made the biggest difference in your life, whether that be with your family, your career, your attitude–anything which you feel has impacted you most greatly?

The series is to be called “The Achievers”, and will be running Wednesdays beginning May 14.

Watch for it!